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Saturday, 23 February 2013

Bibimbap Soho 비빔밥 소호 - London Greek Street

I really only wanted to blog for fun. I believe I am not a super blogger. But now I truly know why people like to blog (especially about food)! ^_^ ...

I really like Korean food. Since my experience at Arirang last year I really wanted to try out more Korean restaurants. I kept seeing them but I found myself not going into them because I had no one to go in them with me. :( I found Bibimbap Soho 비빔밥 소호 on the Internet a while ago (and way before I was emailed by a kind person from Bibimbap Soho XD).

Outside Bibimbap Soho

I'm surprised they don't use their Korean name outside of their restaurant, but it's modern age, so thumbs up (^_^)b for keeping up with the times! At the time I was just searching for a cheapish Korean restaurant to go to. There have been mixed reviews from a lot of people in London, Koreans and non-Koreans about this place.I suggested to my friend Mr Bear a while ago to go with me... and we were supposed to go here for his birthday in September 2012, but he is such a busy social bear!!! And now it's February 2013!!! So hurry up Mr Bear, find us a time and date for us to go! And don't forget to bring along Mr Smiles!! :DBibimbap 비빔밥 (pronounced: pi-pim-pap) is a national Korean dish which means 'mixed rice' according to Wikipedia and on Bibimbap Soho's website. ^_^ In this dish is a mixture of egg (raw or cooked), meat (mainly beef), vegetables and the most obvious ingredient white rice, which is served in a warm bowl! (More like a very hot stone bowl!). The ingredients are mixed in the bowl and cooked at the same time. Bibimbap Soho offers 10 varieties of this dish, and I couldn't wait to try one of these out. :D But as well as the national dish they serve other food, like noodles, salads and rice dishes...

Had to take a picture of Girls Generation ^_^

Bibimbap menu

When we arrived I had thought a table was reserved for us. But unfortunately it wasn't. To make a reservation there must be a group of 10 or more people. However the staff were very polite and accommodating, which I am extremely grateful for, as they sat us at a table that was suitable for 2 people (but with an extra chair of course)... All we wanted to do was sit and EAT! (I only had 3 pancakes and some cookies for lunch :( ...). This is a very modern Korean restaurant. It has a lot of photos surrounding the walls. Unfortunately we didn't have our picture taken... I guess it was because it was too busy, there was a long queue of people and service was running more smoothly than usual... Keep guessing geek... :P

Inside Bibimbap Soho... Couldn't get a better picture... :(

Here's what we had...

Drinks firstI had the ice lemon tea, Mr Bear had a hot root tea and Mr Smiles had a coke.

Coke, ice lemon tea and hot root tea

Side dishesMr Smiles started off with the Chilli Squid. It was very crispy, and the dip that came with it was very tasty! I like! Mr Smiles really liked his starter too!! :D

Chilli Squid

The dip is very nice!! Mr Bear said he could have it with anything! ¬_¬"

I had the spicy rice cake a.k.a ddukbokki. Oh wooooow!! This was soooo tasty! Next time I make ddukbokki I want it to be as tasty as this!! :D

Yummy Spicy Rice Cake ^_^

Mr Bear had the kimchi pancake. Now, when I made kimchi chigae one time and brought it to the office it really smelled and I had put him off kimchi... Luckily, these didn't smell that bad and were very, very yummy :D Mr Bear said he LOVED them AND wanted MORE!! ^_^

Kimchi Pancake - Thumbs up from Mr Bear!!! ^_^

PicklesBoth Mr Smiles and I ordered the kimchi. I've had several types of kimchi before. The tinned one which is my favourite, the chilled one in a jar is very tasty and my least favourite the refrigerated packet version shipped from Korea. This one tasted like the refrigerated packet. :( It has this bitter taste that I don't particularly like. But for some reason Mr Bear and Mr Smiles enjoyed it!

Kimchi

The Bibimbap!!!The moment finally came. The three of us ordered three different bibimbaps. Mr Smiles had the Dol Sot with a fried egg. Very light in taste, and nutritious looking. Yummy!

Dol Sot

Mr Bear had the Beef Bul-go-gi with a raw egg. This was great, well the beef was! The beef tasted like it would melt away in your mouth.

Beef Bul-go-gi

And I had the Beef Fillet. I have never eaten raw beef before. But it tasted so good. I think I could sense there was some sesame oil. And the mushrooms were so tasty. ^_^

Beef Fillet - tasty ^_^

Beef Fillet all mixed up and ready to cook in the bowl!

All three bibimbap dishes ^_^ .... tasty....! The sauces were tasty too! :D

All in all, it was a good meal. I think I wanted more of the side dishes than anything else! By the way, they don't serve desserts (probably because of customer turnover as Mr Bear pointed out), but there is a coffee shop opposite called Lick that serves ice cream... although it's very expensive ice cream!

Total cost came to £54.20 (and fortunately we got a £10.40 discount, as I was told I would be able to have 2 free side dishes, but we still gave them a small tip even though there was a £5 service charge... Korean restaurants seem to like charging their customers a lot!)...I think Miss Pinky is going to be jealous... I did invite her, but only if Mr Bear didn't want to go. She wasn't happy that she was second choice over Mr Bear! Hah! Next time Miss Pinky, next time. ;)I can say that Mr Bear and Mr Smiles were very happy with what they had! I felt like I have introduced them to Korean food of which they have never had before. ^_^ I am such a proud geek.As we were leaving more people were coming in... I would definitely come here again but probably when it's more quiet.감사합니다

My geeky rating: 4.9/5 (lost a 0.1 mark because of the reserving issue)

Good points:

- Love, love, loved the side dishes. I want more dduboki! ^_^ Mr Bear wants more kimchi pancake! Mr Smiles loves the kimchi :)- Friendly and polite service (even when rushed and had a busy service)- Love the pictures on the walls- Enjoyed the bibimbap

Bad points:- Didn't have a reserved table- Service charge of £5 (that's too much)- Not entirely cheap but worthwhile

2 comments:

I went here last week! It was my first time trying bibimbap and it was soooo good!! I had the korean pancake too, so delicious! Korean food is def a new love of mine but I wish there were more restaurants where I live :-( I took loads of pics at bibimbap to post on my blog soon lol

If you need to find more Korean restaurants, there's a bunch of them in New Malden, as there's a whole Korean community there... (I passed there many months ago and wanted to stop and eat - but didn't :( )...

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About Me

Hi! I'm Bao Bao The Geek! I'm a Chinese Londoner who travels a lot, talks a lot and takes too many pictures! (And according to Miss Pinky I'm an alien from the Argos adverts, and to Mr Bear I'm an absolute geek!). This blog is to share my thoughts and adventures from all my experiences around Planet Earth. Happy reading!